A Quiet Conversation
by MeeLee
Summary: [Oneshot] Neji, Hinata, a broken bridge, and a rare moment of honesty. Gen.


**A/N: **So. My second Naruto fic that _isn't_ centered on Kakashi and Iruka. Go me.

There isn't much to say about this. You can squint and look at it as NejiHina, but I like to just call it gen. I don't think I captured Hinata's speech style as well as I wanted to, but hey, it's my first time playing with these two characters, so if you could allow just a little leeway, it would be much appreciated.

Enjoy, and review if you please._-MeeLee_

A Quiet Conversation

**BEGIN**

The sun was just beginning to set when young Hyuuga Neji found himself picking his way carefully along the river, slowly traversing the slippery stones of the bank in what could only be described as a dance, the flowing blue water shimmering beside him.

He had had a long day. He had returned from a long team mission just that morning, and standard physicals and debriefing had taken up most of the afternoon. He had barely been able to squeeze in two hours of training before heading home.

_Home._ Neji smiled at that thought, pupil-less white eyes fixed on the ground before him as he carefully leaped onto another stone, concentrating chakra at the bottoms of his feet to keep himself from slipping. Now wasn't that ironic. Home—that is, the Hyuuga complex—had always been the one place he had hated going to. There were too many memories there. Too many memories of _be strong Neji_ and _we must protect the main branch_ and _yes father_ and—

Quickly the young jounin shook his head, clearing those thoughts from his mind. Things were different now, he reminded himself as he finally turned from the riverbank and began making his way across the cool grass, back to the setting sun. Yes, things were so very different now. The truth about his father's death had been revealed, and his faith in his family had been restored to a certain extent—all thanks to a certain loud-mouthed blond who was currently off training with a perverted white-haired Sannin.

It had stunned Neji when Naruto had shown him that, despite his all-seeing Byakugan, despite his 360-degree vision, Neji had been blind all along.

A slight chakra presence registered itself on the edge of his chakra field and he immediately stopped walking, body tensing instinctively as he worked to identify the signature. After only a moment, though, he felt himself relaxing, turning quietly to watch as a single lone human figure made its way slowly down toward the riverbank.

_Hinata-sama._

Neji watched quietly, passively, as the young Hyuuga heiress slowly approached the short wooden bridge that spanned the length of the river. Hyuuga Hinata had not yet noticed her cousin, too absorbed in trying to keep the huge stack of important-looking scrolls currently nestled in her thin arms from spilling over.

She reached the bridge soon enough, teetering slightly as she struggled to keep the scrolls balanced when the raised ground level upset her center of gravity for a brief second. Soon, though, she steadied herself and took another step across the bridge.

There was a creak, and Neji frowned. The bridge was old; it had been built before he had been born, before perhaps even his father had been born. It was just one of those old structures from the old times that had somehow survived the Kyuubi attack and then had been promptly forgotten. Like so many other things—and people—in the village.

Like Hinata, Neji thought as he continued watching his cousin carefully traverse the rickety bridge. Hinata, who was so shy that Hiashi had had to ask Nara Shikaku to use his shadow technique in order to force her to step up and face the crowd when she had been promoted to chuunin status. Hinata, whose quiet voice and even quieter manner made her disappear completely from a room even if she was standing in the middle of it. Hinata, who stuttered and stammered and blushed, yet somehow had once proven herself stronger than Neji could ever hope to be.

A sharp cracking sound roused Neji out of his thoughts, and he looked up just in time to see Hinata frozen in the center of the bridge, a look of shock suspended on her pale face. An instant later, a loud, sighing groan sounded as the entire bridge gave way beneath the young chuunin, and Hinata shrieked as bridge, scrolls and Hyuuga went tumbling into the water below.

Neji's body reacted on reflex; he was sprinting as fast as he could toward the riverbank before he was even fully aware of it. Spotting several splintered wooden planks and a dark head sweeping swiftly by, the jounin quickly leaped onto the water, altering and molding the chakra beneath his feet to keep himself above the rushing water as he dashed along the river just as Hinata disappeared below the surface.

Cursing, Neji's hands flew quickly through seals. "_Byakugan!_"

The whole world inverted, colors switching and everything becoming amazingly clear. Neji spotted Hinata within seconds, the younger ninja fighting the current just below the water's surface. Leaping forward, Neji plunged his hands into the freezing water, grabbed a handful of heavy jacket, and promptly hauled his cousin up for air.

Hinata gasped upon breaking the surface, clinging instinctively to Neji as the jounin dragged them both across the water and back to shore, depositing Hinata carefully on the riverbank. While his cousin tried to regain her breath, he proceeded to remove her soaked jacket, tossing it carelessly onto the grass beside them. Pulling off the top layer of his own Hyuuga robes, then, he draped them carefully across her shoulders, wrapping the thin white cloth tightly around her shivering body. Only then did he speak. "Are you all right, Hinata-sama?"

Hinata turned, seeming to see him for the first time. She stared for a moment, blank white eyes marked with confusion. "I—" Suddenly her eyes widened. "The scrolls! I—I l-lost the scrolls—" Instantly she was struggling to her feet, Neji's robes falling to the grass in her haste. "I have to find the scr—_ah!_"

Her right leg gave out beneath her and she fell forward. "Hinata-sama!" Immediately Neji was there, grabbing her firmly and gently lowering her back down onto the grass. "Don't move," the jounin said as he proceeded to examine her leg.

Hinata wasn't listening, however, as she tried to rise again. "The scrolls—"

"Hold still," Neji said, biting his lip as he saw that Hinata's right ankle was currently twisted at an odd angle. "It doesn't look broken, but it's sprained pretty badly." He looked up. "We need to get you…Hinata-sama?"

Hinata's face was currently buried in her hands; her entire body was shaking. Leaning closer, Neji could barely make out her desperate whimpers. "L-Lost the scrolls," the girl was saying, voice so small Neji could hardly hear the consonants. "All—All of them—"

"Hinata-sama." Neji touched her hand but she shied away, seeming not to hear him.

"He s-said they were important…oh, Otousama's g-going to b-b-be so m-mad—"

"Hinata-sama." Neji frowned. "Hinata-sama, are you listening?"

"They're all g-gone," Hinata whispered, face still hidden. "All of them—he's going to b-be so angry with—"

"_Hinata-sama!_" Neji grabbed her wrists, forcing them apart so that he could look her straight in the eyes. Hinata jumped, staring in shock as Neji released her, his face slowly returning back to that calm expression of before. "Answer me. Are you all right?"

Hinata frowned. "The scrolls—"

But Neji shook his head. "Forget the scrolls," he said. "I'm talking about you. Are _you_ all right?"

His cousin blinked, confusion evident in her eyes. "Yes, but I lost—"

"The scrolls don't matter, Hinata-sama." Neji turned from her, removing an ice pack and roll of bandage from his supply pouch and proceeding to wrap Hinata's ankle. "Don't you get it?"

When the look of confusion did not leave Hinata's face, Neji sighed. "You don't have to be a genius to know the difference between a person and a thing," the jounin said, carefully resting Hinata's ankle on his knee as he continued to bandage it. "You're far more important to Hiashi-sama than some scroll. Stop thinking that you're not."

"But—"

"Hinata-sama." Neji's look was stern. "Don't."

Hinata was silent for a long moment before finally speaking in a soft, hesitant voice. "Y…You're the f-first person to ever say that to me, Neji-niisan."

Neji sighed. "I thought as much." Gently laying Hinata's ankle back onto the grass, he turned, watching as the last fiery red rays of the sun began disappearing into the horizon. "It's beautiful, isn't it?" he asked after a moment's silence.

"Y-Yes."

They sat in silence for a while before Hinata spoke. "Ne, Neji-niisan…"

Neji turned. "Yes, Hinata-sama?"

Hinata was looking at the ground. "I…never had a ch-chance to thank you."

The older Hyuuga shrugged, turning back to the darkening sky. "I'd have done it for any Konoha shinobi," he said. "Don't worry yourself about it."

"No, it's not that." When Neji turned and blinked, Hinata smiled softly, shyly, eyes still fixed on the grass at her feet. "I mean before…you know, during the first Ch-Chuunin Exams. When you fought me."

Her cousin blinked a couple more times before a frown darkened his face. "Hinata-sama, I nearly killed you that time," he said. "I don't think you should be thanking me for it."

Hinata shook her head. "No, but…" She paused as if uncertain of what to say. "I just…" She stopped again. Neji said nothing, allowing her time to collect her thoughts. Finally, Hinata continued, voice slightly stronger. "Everyone thinks N-Naruto-kun was the one wh-who encouraged me," she said, "And indeed he h-helped me a lot. But…But I think the one who r-really helped me…it was you, Neji-niisan."

Neji started at that, unsure of how to reply and so he settled for not doing so as Hinata spoke again. "I know at the time you th-thought you were just intimidating me," she said, "And you w-were. You scared me to the p-point that I wanted to just forfeit that match…but I didn't. And part of th-that was because Naruto-kun was cheering me on, but p-part of that was also because you showed me my weakness. I saw you, and saw how strong you had become, and…and I wanted to be like you. So I fought you. It was my first step, in a sense."

It took the older Hyuuga a moment to reply. "I see," Neji finally said, eyes fixed once again on the now-invisible horizon.

"I…" The hesitation returned to Hinata's voice. "I-I had hoped that, you know…after everything, w-we could b-be friends."

Her cousin was silent. Hinata sighed. "It—It's okay if you d-don't want to," she whispered, turning away. "It's…It's not like I'm f-forcing you or anything—"

"Hinata-sama." Hinata looked up to see Neji staring right at her. Then her cousin's face broke into a smile, the first genuine smile she had ever seen on Hyuuga Neji's face.

"Don't ask to be friends," Neji said, "because we already are, Hinata-sama."

Hinata blinked. "We are?"

"Yes," Neji said, rising to his feet and extending a hand, "which is why I'm going to take you home now."

Hinata looked up at him, and that familiar expression of fear came over her face again. "B-But the scrolls—"

"Hinata-sama." Neji frowned. "What did I say?"

Hinata looked at him, and then at the river, then at the remnants of the broken bridge, and finally back at him. Then she smiled, softly, hesitantly. "Right," she said. "I trump scrolls. Th-They're just copies anyway…" She tried to get to her feet but her leg buckled beneath her again and she collapsed back onto her rear. "Itai…"

Neji sighed. "You won't be able to walk home in that condition," he said.

Hinata lowered her head. "I'm sorr—hey! Ah! N-N-Neji-niisan, you p-put me d-down right this s-s-second! P-Put me down, please!"

"I'm sorry, Hinata-sama, but I can't do that," Neji said, suppressing a grin as Hinata's face flushed crimson. "If you even tried to walk, you would only put more stress on your ankle, and that would make your injury worse. It is my duty as a member of the branch family to ensure your safety; therefore, I will carry you home."

"But—But I'm h-heavy!"

"I had to carry Gai-sensei home from a mission once," Neji said as he walked slowly away from the river, Hinata in his arms. "Believe me, compared to him, you're as light as a feather."

"Y-Yes, but—" Hinata blushed even harder, if that was possible. "B-But…this is embarrassing, Neji-niisan!"

"So would you collapsing in a heap every two steps you take," Neji answered smoothly.

Hinata was silent. Finally, though, she seemed to make a decision, turning her head slightly and burying her face comfortably into her cousin's chest. "Don't tell Otousama?" she whispered, her voice muffled by Neji's thick Hyuuga robes.

Neji smiled. "Not a word," he said, and headed home.

**FINI**


End file.
